A growing industry gets better with age: New Jersey wineries flourish

An old turn of phrase about wines: If you can’t be with the wine you love, love the wine you’re with.

That’s a sacrifice locals had to make long ago, but during the past decade, the New Jersey wine industry has boomed, and there are now high-quality wines only a short drive away from many of the state’s residents.

The Garden State has four times more wineries and sells three times as many gallons as it did before 2000, and that growth has been coupled with a rising awareness that some of the best grapes in the world can be grown in New Jersey’s climate and soil.